Futuristic Sparked

[MidwayLives]

The two had found an alleyway which seemed spacious enough for them to fight. Something that Johnny still seemed reluctant to go through with. He disapproved of Andrew's scamming. Taking advantage of others for your own gain was wrong. But he had to stand his ground and stick to his guns. If he ran away now after making that big show about stopping him, he'd never be able to look in the mirror again. Standing a fair distance away from Johnny, Andrew reached in around his waistband and pulled out what appeared to be a pistol of some kind. Johnny's eyes widened and he took a step back in alarm. "Y-You're going to shoot me?!"

As if to try and ease Johnny's concerns, Andrew waved him down. "Relax, this is just an airsoft gun. You haven't really wronged me enough for me to contemplate real bullets." Whether or not that was a sick joke, Johnny wasn't sure. "If we're going to fight then I wanna make something clear. Don't underestimate me just because I'm blind. If you do? You'll regret it." Loading up the gun, Odd tapped the index finger on his left hand on his waist. "I know the folks who live in the buildings parallel to this alleyway so if you're worried about anyone getting hurt? Forget about it, they're gone for the day. Work if I'm not mistaken. So, let me show you a little demonstration of AUX."

Gesturing with the gun for Johnny to follow it's movement, he did so as Andy aimed it vaguely in the direction of one of the upperstory windows. "AUX doesn't work too great with stationary targets. They don't tend to move so no sound is made and thus the forecast is generally useless. Which means it'd probably take me a couple of shots to hit that window. I'd wager about five. But if I were to use AUX.."

*pink pink pink pink*

*CRASH*

Glass shards started to fall and the sound of rapid movement, punching he assumed, was heard as was Johnny's power. Whatever it may have been.

"Four shots, actually. Was one off." Knowing exactly where to shoot now after focusing on the location of the shattering glass. He fired the gun and razor sharp glass shards started to descend down towards Johnny. This was a demonstration and a signal that the fight had started! Damn it, he'd been so focused on worrying about how this would go when shit got done to the nitty gritty, he froze! "Melancholy Hill!!" Having already been by it's user's side, the creature tilted it's head upwards and threw a flurry of punches intended to try and knock away the shards before they made contact with Johnny. "DARE DARE DARE DARE DARE DARE!" Most of them were smacked aside but some still broke through and managed to cut Johnny's left shoulder, dig into his right thigh, and cut up his knuckles. "Ow, ow, fuck!" Johnny cursed as Andrew slipped his gun away once more. "So, that enough of a demonstration or do you want more?"

"Grrr!" A fire had been lit under Johnny's ass and he wasn't going to let this guy get away with it! But before he even took his first steps forward, Andrew activated his power again.

*crunch crunch crunch*

*swoosh*

*splash*

"Damn it!"

So, that was it huh? Having listened to the forecast, Andrew focused as he heard the soles of Johnny's shoes crunching against the shards of glass that'd landed at his feet. One crunch, two crunch, three crunch and now, the second predicted noise! It sounded like an attempted left hook. Jumping back, the blow hit nothing but air. Then the splash came from a water bottle that Andrew had landed on. "Damn it!" Johnny exclaimed, as Andrew flashed him a smug smile. "Still don't have a good grasp on what exactly your power is but given that you didn't pursue, I'm guessing it has something of a range limitation? I'd say only a couple meters at best or else you would have continued and clobbered me. Sorry Johnny, but it looks like that money's gonna be mine. Maybe you can use your power to rob a bank of your own, huh?" There it was, the insult to injury. Gritting his teeth, Johnny looked down at the shard of glass jutting from his thigh and began to pant. It was really going to hurt pulling that out, like really hurt. Not to mention the blood oozing down his still healing knuckles. Going to town on that robot had taken it's fair share of wear and tear on him.

"You really think you could go save a bank full of hostages from somebody like us when you can't even handle me? This is real life, we're talkin. Not some kind of video game. AUX!"

*He could hear his own breathing as he raced forward*

*Johnny gasped, likely in surprise that he was coming in for close quarters. Then he let out a yell*

*"DARE DARE DARE DARE DARE DARE DARE!!!" seemed like a flurry of punches. Easy enough to avoid so long as he focused on where he imagined each punch was coming from*

*THWACK*

*Johnny screamed*

Forecast over. Right, so he was going to go for another punch barrage, huh? Andrew shook his head and raced forward, keeping his head down low. There was the gasp and then the yell. "AAAAH!" Sounded like the two of them were pretty close to eachother now. As the punches started coming in, Andrew knew exactly which way to move to dodge every single one. If only he could have seen the look on Johnny's face. One of anguish, confusion, frustration. He had all this power and yet this guy was making him feel like a novice. Swinging the cane upwards after the last punch had been dodged, Andrew felt it connect with the side of Johnny's head and a scream escaped past his lips. As he started to fall, Johnny could feel his vision starting to blur. That last blow had hit pretty hard and right in the noggin to boot. But he couldn't go down like this. He told Andrew that he'd stop him and he had to keep his word! [Melancholy Hill] lashed it's tail forward, wrapping it around Andrew's arm.

"Ah, feels like you got something around my arm. Something loose...? A tail? Or maybe a rope? Doesn't matter. IT'S OVER, JOHNNY! AUX!"

*THWACK*

*Another scream but then another hand grabbing onto his walking stick*

*"DARE"

*Wait...What was this sound? It sounded absolutely horrendous? Whatever it was, he didn't like it. Sounded horribly distorted*

*"NO!"*

*"DARE!" Another punch. This one sounded like...it connected!*

"...He landed a punch on me...?" Andrew muttered aloud in disbelief. He could usually change the fate his forecasts predicted. But he was actually going to get slugged?? Tch, no he would change fate! The stick hit home again on Johnny's side this time. But then as in AUX's forecast, he couldn't pull the stick from Johnny's grip. "DARE..." Although Andrew couldn't see it, in his mildly dazed state due to the blow to his head, [Melancholy Hill] was looming over Andrew with it's mouth wide open, ready to drag him into it's portal. Hearing the familiar noise, Johnny's eyes shot open. "NO!" [Melancholy Hill] pulled back and clenched it's right hand into a fist. "DARE!" The fist swung out, catching Andrew in the mouth and sending him flying back and knocking his shades off. Crashing into a nearby garbage can, Andrew's stick fell at his side.

"...Looks like I won." Johnny murmured as he staggered forward, his movements hindered by the shards in his flesh. "I held back just enough to avoid seriously injuring you...I took down a robot with [Melancholy Hill] I'd hate to see what it could do to a normal person. I won this stupid little game, Andrew." He spat and Andrew could only seem to smile in response. Sitting up, he brushed his bangs out of his face, revealing his eyes to Johnny who stumbled back in shock. "...I didn't need AUX to hear you take a step back. You saw em, huh? Well, can't be helped now.." Reaching around for wherever his sunglasses had fallen, Johnny shakily reached down to grab them for him. Although he'd never openly accuse Andrew of such a thing despite him being clearly kind of a dick, Johnny ha full on confirmation that not only was he blind.

Somebody had cut his eyes straight across. A jagged scar made it painfully obvious.

It was a gruesome sight and one Johnny wished he hadn't seen. "Here.." Snatching his sunglasses out of his hand, Andrew put them on and rose to his feet. Where he'd been punched was already well on it's way to turning into a bruise. His bottom lip had been busted as well. "Well, guess first impressions were wrong. You are strong, Johnny. You won fair and square and beat this guy with powers. Now, why don't you go stop that bank robber?" Flashing him a smile might have been prudent but his teeth were stained with blood from his lip. Johnny said nothing for a moment or two before eventually sighing. "...Is that all this was? A test to see if I really had what it took to go stop this criminal?"

"Maybe. Or maybe I was just having some fun and bit off more than I could chew. Wouldn't be the first time. Go on and get outta here." Andrew shooed Johnny off but much to his surprise, he felt Johnny place a hand on his shoulder. "I, uh, I'm sure you probably could have used AUX to hear me sticking my hand out. But since I can't hear or see the future, why don't you kill the suspense and shake my hand?" Taken aback by the gesture, Andrew shrugged his shoulders. 'Sure. Why not?" As the two shook hands, Andrew patted Johnny on the side. "...Good luck, dude."

Breaking off the handshake, Johnny nodded. "Yeah. Same to you." Turning away from Andrew, Johnny started to stagger out of the alleyway. It'd take him some time but if he sprinted down there, he might be able to make it in time! That fight with Andrew had left him injured and he'd have to deal with these shards sooner rather than later but all that could wait! People's lives were possibly on the line here! Maybe if he bought a bike real quick, he could-...Wait...Wait a minute, his pocket felt so much lighter. "HEY!!" He screamed over his shoulder but Andrew had already grabbed his stick and ran back into the crowd with wallet in hand. "Sorry Johnny, you win some, you lose some!"

"B-BUT I DIDN'T LOSE!!! ...Ah, man!"

Ugh, he couldn't run with these kinds of injuries! He'd be too out of energy by the time he got there! Then he'd only make things worse for everyone! Looking around in desperation, salvation seemed to come in the form of a bike parked at bicycle rack. Only issue was? It had a lock on it. Did he violate the rights of the bike's owner by stealing it? Well, it was for the greater good and he did just have to fight another superpowered guy...Sooo...

"[Melancholy Hill]..." Johnny whispered under his breath as the creature's boot smashed the lock off. Climbing aboard, Johnny started to peddle towards the bank and the evildoer that was robbing it. "SORRY!!!" He yelled back to the poor guy who'd walk out and see his lock absolutely demolished and some bleeding weirdo taking off with his bike!

 

[MyrtenRose]

Her intense concentration began to pierce into the past, memories of a safe(boring) day unfolding before her very eyes—

Then the ground next to MJ exploded, briefly snapping out of her power. When she turned back to Janet and 'Ardent', she saw Beckett diving forward, Calamity Janet midair with one hand pushed against the top of Beckett's head to help her vault over, and the other pointing a gun at her.

She wasn’t sure what registered first, the loud boom or the little scattered bits of the ground pelting her in the arms and legs. “What the?” Her eyes looked over to the side, got a glimpse of Jacks stuck, eyes started rolling in response...that came to a sudden stop as she looked back towards the hostage taker. And the gun aimed at her face.

MJ’s eyes widened, hand beginning to raise to beg to take it easy and—

Then she got shot.

The bullet cracked into her forehead... and bounced. The force was definitely enough to make her stumble backwards and disorient her, but it was far from a lethal or even wounding blow.

The little noise that followed the gunshot sounded more adorable than it had any right to be. She let out a literal high-pitched “oof” sound as the shot hit home, smacking her with enough force that she stumbled back, almost knocking her to the floor. On the plus side, she wasn’t fucking dead!

Yet before she or Jacks could recover from their balance, the bank was suddenly filled with the sound of shattering glass as almost every light in the bank seemed to burst in the span of a few seconds, the entire room suddenly shrouded in darkness. The hostages started screaming. Someone stepped on Jacks' back, and the window to the street was suddenly smashed apart behind them as Bant's voice crackled to life in their ears.

On the negative side, she couldn’t see a damn thing now. At the very least she could confirm with touch that there was no blood coming from her forehead. “What the hell did she shoot me with?” Rhetorical whispering aside, she glanced over to her left. It was too dark but she began to step over that way. “Hey, are you—“

She ended up tripping over Jacks and landing right on top of the gravity heroine. “Oh here you are.” MJ commented.

“And nope that was me. I got shot, yaaaaaaaaaay me.” She deadpanned in reply to Bant. “On the major plus side, not dead! Some kind of non-lethal rounds?” Her voice shifted to a conspiratorial whisper. “Oh and hey, if you catch up to her, could you please tell her I’ll pay 5 million dollars to knock this shit off and come work with us instead? That was gonna be my plan after I figured out whatever her power was but then the ground exploded and I got shot. Robbery and hostages and that aside, the chick just seems pretty fun. Repay her debt to society with some community service.”

Her attention turned back to the Jacks she was basically sitting on. “So...what the fuck was that???”

 

[Prospero]

"Playback activate."

From his comfortable chair, Rochefort leaned forward as he stared at Calamity Janets features. "Analyze banticles. Initiate profile compilation." He let out a tight grin, the wheels in place as he sought to use his friends research and his own machines to attempt to determine the Sparkeds abilities. "Lets see what makes you tick."

While that happened, he continued to attempt to track Janet, going by traffic cameras mostly as he spoke. "Sending Lulu your way ladies and otherwise. Stand by."

And in the background, the drone fired upwards and flew out the window.

*SHATTER*

"....."Rochefort sighed and directed his minions to begin construction of a proper launching pad.

 

[MidwayLives]

Hearing Johnny peddling away on a stolen bike and the owner cursing after him, Andrew couldn't help but smile. He hadn't met Johnny for long and the encounter involved him getting punched in the face and Johnny being stabbed with shards of glass. Still, things seemed to resolve pretty well didn't they? Andrew got what he wanted and Johnny gathered up the courage to go to the bank to stop that robbery. It still wasn't something that Andrew could see himself doing. The world had been cruel to him and so he'd be indifferent back. Working to gain things that provided him advantages and not others. As he opened up Johnny's wallet and rifled around, there were a hefty amount of dollar bills in there. Guess the guy only carried around a debit card besides that. In truth, Andrew didn't really need Johnny's money or any of the money he'd gained through cheating people with AUX. Maybe he'd find someone just as interesting as Johnny had been.

"Master Winters!"

"Tch, figures you'd catch up eventually." Closing up Johnny's wallet, Andrew turned in the direction of the voice he'd heard. It was coming from what appeared to be a middle aged man, his thinning black hair combed over and he wore a fine grey suit. His bright blue eyes seemed to be filled with concern and with what he was about to say next, one could understand why. "Master Winters, I...I know you don't like me accompanying you but Mister and Miss Winters-"

"Don't want a repeat of that time, again. Yeah, I get it. But I ain't a baby. I can take care of myself, Harrison." Shoving past his family's butler/his 'guide' when he went out for walks, Andrew continued forward and it was then that Harrison noticed the wallet in Andrew's hand. "...Master Winters, is that your wallet?"

"Eh? Nope. Picked it off somebody in a fight."

"A fight!? YOU got into a FIGHT??"

"Yeah. I lost. See?" Turning around, he gestured to his busted lip. Pinching at his brow, Harrison sighed. "Master Winters. There is disliking what your parents ask of you and there's being outright reckless! What if your opponent did more than bust your lip or give you a bruise on your face?" Rolling his eyes, Andrew snagged the bills out of the wallet and threw it back at his butler. "Whatever, you ruined the mood and I don't want it anymore. Make sure it gets back to Johnny Higashikata. I wanna walk around for a bit more!" Harrison opened his mouth to shout after his ward but as he opened up the wallet and noticed Johnny's ID, he had to frown. He didn't know this young man but he DID have a very punchable face it seemed. Still, he hoped his master wasn't turning into some kind of delinquent!

~~~
As Johnny peddled to save the day and Andrew walked off, in a a nearby apartment, a Sparked was having some trouble of his own.

*happy waiting music*

"Hello?"

"YES! THANK YOU! I've been on hold for the last ten minutes!! It's really frustrating me and I just NEED to schedule an appointment! Please just connect me with the office-"

"We're experiencing a high frequency of calls at the moment and appreciate your patience! Please stay on the line for your call to be taken!"

"NO! AGHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The call was ended and the phone was whipped across the room. OK! OK! Calm down, calm down. Yeah, that was the best thing to do here! He could feel his breathing picking up and sweat running down his forehead. He'd gotten himself all worked up. Rising up from the couch, Daniel wandered over to where he'd dropped his phone and blinked. Once. Twice. Three times before picking up his phone. In his annoyance, he'd thrown the phone with such force that the screen had been cracked. Not enough to be distracting but enough to upset him all the same ontop of everything else. The phone slipped from his hand and he began to pace around his living room table, his face growing as red as a beet.

"That's it! First it was that damn therapist's office and now my phone!! Why? Why can't ANYTHING JUST GO MY WAY FOR A CHANGE?!" Throwing his arms to the side, Daniel let out a scream which on it's own may have been cathartic but what came next? Well, most sane people wouldn't consider it 'cathartic.' As a red aura encircled Daniel's person, it expanded outwards and he had nary a second to question 'wha-' before-

*BOOM!!*

The explosion was as if a hand grenade had gone off in Daniel's room, his window shattering from the force and demolishing his furniture. His table had been turned into splinters and as for Daniel himself? Well, ask any of the pieces of him that were splattered around the room. Uh oh.

~~~

Oooookay, so she apparently had wings now. It was an exact science to it but not one that Jean could decipher. They'd been very useful in preventing her from y'know, dying. But the only drawback seemed to be that she didn't have the slightest clue on how to exactly turn them off. What would people think if she walked out of this alleyway looking like this? Think she was some kind of angel? Or maybe just a psycho who glued fake wings to her back. Or maybe a eccentric cosplayer. She liked that last one better than being a criminal with angel wings coming out of her back. Well, given the kind of creeps she'd seen loitering around in District 15, maybe she wouldn't stand out too much. Or maybe some guys looking for a cheap thrill would think the wings are real and try cutting em off her back or something. You know like how little kids did in those scary documentaries.

Perhaps she was exaggerating there.

But if she went back to the warehouse like this, it was going to stir up questions. Questions she really wouldn't be able to answer. Questions from folks who made her skin crawl. Well, she could just try what she'd done before to get em here. "Mr Brightside!" As if on cue, the wings vanished, still leaving tears in the back of Jean's hoodie though. "...Okay, so I got that hammered out but that was a nifty hoodie.." She bemoaned before debating over what to do next. Traveling by air with these things while tempting would be more likely to earn her unwanted attention/get her recognized by someone she'd pickpocketed and that'd spiral out into a whole other mess. No, she just had to get back to District 15, give those bastards the money they wanted, and she'd be able to sleep peacefully for another night. ....But then again, you didn't come across folks with wings every day y'know. If she played this right, she could keep those guys off her back for a while if she scared some poor soul with this thing! Climbing back up to the roof of the building she'd tried jumping to, she overlooked the area. "Mr Brightside!" The wings majestically appeared once more and focusing, Jean's eyes shifted into that of a hawk's. Much to her surprise, she could see well enough that she could see the cover of a book a guy was reading while he sat at a nearby restaurant and even the fly that was currently walking across his plate while his attention was elsewhere. Though, while most people would have thought this amazing? Jean thought it was gross to get such a detailed close up. Was this another 'perk' of Mr Brightside???

Hey, wait, ignore the bugs and food. There looked to be two folks running down this way. Maybe if she spooked these two, she could score bigtime and live without fear in this place until she figured out her next big move! Flapping her wings, Jean pulled up the bandana around her mouth and yanked up her hood before soaring down towards the fleeing Janet and the pursuing Beckett. "Hey! Stop!" Wasn't exactly the most intimidating of holdups but she didn't really know how to make angel wings sound or even look scary. Plus the one who was all gussied up with a mask was scaring her...

 

[MyrtenRose]

"My old self is gone! No one will ever be able to recognize this new me! No one will ever realize I have been reborn and granted new, dare I say, GODLIKE power!" She looked at the small twister forming in her ethereal palm. "There is no better time than now, right now, to stick it to the man! The elusive shadowy overlord who THRIVES on keeping the little guy DOWN! This is the time of their RECOMPENSE...………..is what I would be saying if I had an idea to go about it." The former janitor was stumped, to say the least. Avery tried to focus, concentrate, come up with a plan of action...nothing. Not a single thing came to mind. Ideasville, current population: zero. That was a problem.

Fortunately, she had a tried and true solution to this problem. Whenever inspiration eluded her, she HIT THE COUCH!

And that is exactly what she did, plopping onto the couch in her small apartment and powering up the TV. The channels flickered as she tapped away, hoping some program on there would be the catalyst for that spark of inspiration.

Even more fortunately for her, it worked very quickly! The news was covering a bank robbery to some degree. "That's it!" She instantly exclaimed with glee so palpable it could almost be tasted, leaping out of her couch and thumbing off the tv in one move. "Yes! I will ROB THE ROBBER! No one will see it coming! In this way I can stick it not just to those pesky authority figures but to the other CRIMINALS as WELL!" Though her new face was not physically capable of it anymore, one could still sense the big grin energy emanating from within her.

"All shall shake and quiver in the MERE presence of Hurricane Avery, friend to no one!"

With that she strode over to her apartment window, hopped out and began to SOAR. That district was not far.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Bant blinked a few times, quite a few things to process all happening at the same time.

"...Okay. First off, I'm not going to ask what that shattering sound was, but I LITERALLY JUST SAID DON'T MESS WITH BANTICLES TWO HOURS AGO. SCANNING INCLUDED!" He yelled into the chat, glaring at a passerby giving him a weird look before he huffed. "Ok. MJ, can you do damage control in the bank? Make them not remember what just happened? Or is there too many people? And can I have 5 million too? And Beckett, you're... on track! Turn right onto Princeton and you should see her! Also, Johnny is on Princeton, weird coincidence, maybe? Unless Johnny's stand makes him psychic too. Miss that show."

"TOO MUCH TALKING!" Beckett snapped back as they vaulted over a parked car as they caught sight of Calamity Janet across the street. She'd apparently snagged the bag from the teller on the way out, and shot Beckett a narrow glance before disappearing down an alley. Beckett growled in frustration. "Think you're fast, huh?" They reached for their watch, and moved the dial two clicks.


"1% active"

Their next step hit the pavement and cracked it, launching them across the street and into the alley in a blur before they slammed into its far wall and gripped their fingers into the concrete to slow themselves. Calamity Janet tossed her gun upwards and pulled the one she had holstered in one fluid motion as she turned and fired. Beckett's face exploded.

They both froze as the smoke cleared.

"...So. You're not above killing people." Beckett snarled, unharmed.

"Oh please pardner, you haven't flinched an inch an I've put more rubber in your noggin than yer momma's probably got in her bosom. Figured it was worth a shot!" Janet demured, the smile audible under her bandana

"I'll show you worth a SHOT!" they roared as the pushed forward like a rocket... only to have their vision blocked by a falling pistol right when they reached out to grab Janet. They squawked as Janet deftly ducked under their scrambling arms, unharmed but off balance as they went flying down the alleyway. Janet cackled and dashed back into the street, and promptly shrieked as she saw a flying monster above some punk on a bike careening towards her. Wait. No, attached to the kid on the bike.

What the fuck

Regardless, she shot his front wheel, which promptly exploded as she turned tail and sprinted in the opposite direction.

 

[Prospero]

Bant blinked a few times, quite a few things to process all happening at the same time.

"...Okay. First off, I'm not going to ask what that shattering sound was, but I LITERALLY JUST SAID DON'T MESS WITH BANTICLES TWO HOURS AGO. SCANNING INCLUDED!" He yelled into the chat

"Its for science. Quantifiable evidence trumps half-cocked guesses any day!" Rochefort called back, looking through his work as he added. "Besides, I'm not doing anything really...Its observation! You don't make stars explode, looking at them through a telescope!"

As to the window, in the background the robots would be squabbling over the only dustpan as what looked like a miniature rocket launching pad was being constructed piecemeal.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"And can I have 5 million too?"

Her eyes brightened at that question, something that went totally unnoticed in the shroud of overwhelming darkness. "If I said yes could I have a hand in whatever experiments you'd be doing or whatever ground you'd be breaking in the scientific field oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh please say I could have that, man that would be so wickedly awesome and cool and spectacular and oh hey Rochie could be a part of it too and that would be exponentially better and hell if there's a remote chance this possibility could become reality I'd gladly fund even more money, all real hush-hush style and then we could--"

"You don't make stars explode, looking at them through a telescope!"

MJ didn't so much as miss a beat or even take a breath, she just kept talking, moving along smoothly onto this topic. "--hey I mean there's a reason for that, the stars are so far away on the cosmological scale that what we see as stars are actually reflections of them as they were far in the past, like Eta Carinae for example, pulling that star system up you'd be seeing things as they were thousands and thousands of years ago, sort of time travel in the sense, well actually more like time...sight, I suppose, it's all relative...I mean not that I have to explain that to you two and oh fuck I ruined the joke with my rambling haven't I--fuck, moving on! Ahem. Right. Damage control, that's what's up. I can't say if it'll work or not but only one way to find out so..." She fell silent, except not really because she needed to take a breath or several. After that though!

Silence on her end ensued as she concentrated, focusing, trying to reach out to all the non-sparked people whose memories she could sense, gather up all the recent memory related to what went down here and press the metaphorical delete button on it all.

It seemed to work but she was not in a place to verify. Not only did the strain of this give her one hell of a nosebleed, it also made her faint and just fall forwards, sprawling over drunk Jacks.

 

[Indolent]

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The bullet cracked into her forehead... and bounced. The force was definitely enough to make her stumble backwards and disorient her, but it was far from a lethal or even wounding blow. Yet before she or Jacks could recover from their balance, the bank was suddenly filled with the sound of shattering glass as almost every light in the bank seemed to burst in the span of a few seconds, the entire room suddenly shrouded in darkness. The hostages started screaming. Someone stepped on Jacks' back, and the window to the street was suddenly smashed apart behind them as Bant's voice crackled to life in their ears.

[div class=upRight]_Je^su_{s C}h^ri_st[/div]

Her preoccupation with her arm dangling eliciting a vastly distorted impression of something out of Vertical Limit was swiftly overridden by the intense cavalcade of auditory stimuli. The shattering of glass and the popping of the bulbs, the crack of the gunshot, and the rising din of terrified bystanders were, in your typical alcoholic's mind, the beginnings of doomsday. Pain wreaked her overly sensitive ears as she grit her teeth, her upper lip curling into a snarl as one eye lidded half-way in a frenzied debate with itself whether to close or otherwise.

And it didn't stop there, the voice of Bant's coming in through the ear piece. If anyone listened closely enough, they may very well have swore hearing "end my life already." Especially when someone had the audacity to step across her back and smash a window.

Why the hell did she think this was a good idea--

She ended up tripping over Jacks and landing right on top of the gravity heroine. “Oh here you are.” MJ commented.

Oh for fuck's sake--

"--hey I mean there's a reason for that, the stars are so far away on the cosmological scale that what we see as stars are actually reflections of them as they were far in the past, like Eta Carinae for example, pulling that star system up you'd be seeing things as they were thousands and thousands of years ago, sort of time travel in the sense, well actually more like time...sight, I suppose, it's all relative...I mean not that I have to explain that to you two and oh fuck I ruined the joke with my rambling haven't I--fuck, moving on! Ahem. Right. Damage control, that's what's up. I can't say if it'll work or not but only one way to find out so..." She fell silent, except not really because she needed to take a breath or several. After that though!

How do mute earpiece

It seemed to work but it she was not in a place to verify. Not only did the strain of this give her one hell of a nosebleed, it also made her faint and just fall forwards, sprawling over drunk Jacks.

"... I'm not walkin' dis one off." Her eyes squinted in the dark as she groped around for her palms to find purchase, to haphazardly heft herself up. When she did, MJ inadvertently slid down her back and down her legs. Her weight was deftly noted, situated atop one kneecap in particular with the familiar pain presenting itself like an unwanted friend at one's doorstep. In short, terrible idea and while it was her own, it didn't prevent her from lashing out. "Mygod your fat ass ish on my leggggg." She wriggled out posthaste, uncaring whether MJ flipped over face-down on the ground and ambled to both knees, leaning to her side as she sighed. When her eyes opened, she stared at the face of a panicked bystander.

"Oh yea, still 'ere in the bank." Shit. And everyone else was already gone. Looked like it was time to make their getaway. Wait, is that even the appropriate nomenclature for the situation??? Never mind. "Lessgo fattie." A poke a second later and MJ's unconscious form floated side by side the gravity heroine, as she muttered on about the onerous situation before she noted the nosebleed. Another sigh and a few seconds later, shredded wads of tissues were stuffed up MJ's nostrils as Jacks floated both of themselves out the convenient exit made by Calamity Janet.

"I, uh, I... what's the word. Need. No, not that. Sit-rep. Jacksie needs a sit-rep. And memory gal is outta action." She did catch the mention of Princeton but certainly the intervening time between the update and her awkward handling of her own situation put both behind Beckett and Johnny in pursuit of Janet.

"Ah'm jus gonna fly real fast."

 

[MidwayLives]

"...Okay. First off, I'm not going to ask what that shattering sound was, but I LITERALLY JUST SAID DON'T MESS WITH BANTICLES TWO HOURS AGO. SCANNING INCLUDED!" He yelled into the chat, glaring at a passerby giving him a weird look before he huffed. "Ok. MJ, can you do damage control in the bank? Make them not remember what just happened? Or is there too many people? And can I have 5 million too? And Beckett, you're... on track! Turn right onto Princeton and you should see her! Also, Johnny is on Princeton, weird coincidence, maybe? Unless Johnny's stand makes him psychic too. Miss that show."

"HEY! GET BACK HERE WITH MY BIKE, YOU ASSHOLE!!!" The original owner of the bike that Johnny stole screamed. He couldn't get close enough to yank Johnny for the bike but he was getting closer than Johnny liked.

"SORRY!! REALLY!!! I'LL GIVE IT BACK AFTERWARDS, OKAY???" Johnny yelled back before focusing on the chat. "...Oh, I get it. Stand. Because it stands BY me....Heh, that's clever. Y-Yeah, I had a fight with another Sparked. Got a whole bunch of glass in me. Also got my wallet stolen by him but I won the fight!! ...I guess." Yeah, when he put it like that, punching Andy in the face and still losing his money didn't sound too impressive. Okay! He just had to track down this robber and Beckett and help them out. Beckett was super strong so Johnny was sure they'd have a hand on this before things got too out of hand, right? "pMelancholy Hill], lemme look through your eyes really quick!" As he did just that, Johnny would have seen Beckett chasing after what he could only presume was the robber.

"Yup, that has to be them."

"How are you so sure, Johnny...?"

"Well, I mean she's dressed ridiculously. If anyone dresses weird that either means they've got something to hide or they're an enemy. Just how things work." Johnny murmured as he continued peddling as well as he could. Wincing as she saw the shard in his thigh and his left shoulder slide in and out as he moved, he couldn't let the pain slow him down. Because either this robber was gonna kick his ass or the guy he stole from was. He had to at least do one thing right after doing a bad thing. Maybe things would even out and he wouldn't get his ass kicked after the dust settled.

"I'll show you worth a SHOT!" they roared as the pushed forward like a rocket... only to have their vision blocked by a falling pistol right when they reached out to grab Janet. They squawked as Janet deftly ducked under their scrambling arms, unharmed but off balance as they went flying down the alleyway. Janet cackled and dashed back into the street, and promptly shrieked as she saw a flying monster above some punk on a bike careening towards her. Wait. No, attached to the kid on the bike.

What the fuck

Regardless, she shot his front wheel, which promptly exploded as she turned tail and sprinted in the opposite direction.

"There she is! [Melancholy Hill-]"

Wait. Was that a gun??? Was she seriously going to be the second person to threaten him with a gun?! Prepping his power to be on the ready to deflect bullets if need be, Johnny soon found out that he wasn't the target, his stolen merchandise was. The front wheel was absolutely demolished by the shot and as the frame started to get wobbly, Johnny started to panic. As did the guy who had stopped to catch his breath. "THAT GUY'S BIKE/MY BIKE!!!" Both Johnny and the owner screamed. Okay, okay, this was not good! This was REALLY not good! He was going to be in even more pain than he was already if he didn't do something. "OK OK! [MELANCHOLY HILL], IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING I'M LIKE 99% SURE I'M GONNA EAT SHIT AND THAT MIGHT BE ENOUGH TO GIVE ME A CONCUSSION AND I REALLY DON'T WANT THAT!!" Before the bike crashed, [Melancholy Hill] wrapped an arm around Johnny's waist and on Johnny's command, it stomped one of it's boots against the ground and leaped off the bike, taking Johnny with it into the air. To anybody who was Sparked, they'd have seen what it really was. Johnny's power doing the heavy lifting for him and saving him both face and nose. But to the guy he stole the bike from? He froze in place, totally unsure of what the fuck he just saw as Johnny seemingly jumped from the bike and was sailing through the air.

Well, he was safe from crashing onto the ground but as they were up in the air, Johnny began to think that maybe in his panic induced command, [Melancholy Hill] had jumped a bit too high. While he wailed and screamed on the outside, on the inside he was cool and collected. "Okay, did you see the way she looked at us?" "At me, yes." "Right. She seemed to be pretty scared. We can't eat her, I don't wanna do that and the others don't want us to do that. Probably. She's also out of punching distance. But I've got an idea. If we can land in front of her and cut her off, we can do what we did in the fight with Andy. Wrap your tail around her wrist/arm, whatever and hold her in place. Only instead of punching her or anything like that, we'll try to bluff her! I'll have you open your mouth and show off the portal and she'll have to give up!"

"Interesting plan but perhaps it'd be better executed with a bit more convincing on your part. Otherwise that you're bluffing will be too obvious." "Yeah, yeah you're right. Glad I thought of that so you could tell me. Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm still screaming right now. Lemme clear my throat and start up some dramatics before we land which is going to be very very very fast!" Trying his best to collect himself, Johnny had [Melancholy Hill] remove the shard from his thigh. It was bleeding and likely needed to be looked at and wrapped up but he was running on pure adrenaline right now. If this bluff didn't work and the robber still wasn't in DAREing distance, he'd be up shitcreek without a paddle. Hoping for the best however, he started to yell.

"HALT ROBBER!"

Crashing into the ground infront of Janet with [Melancholy Hill]'s boots skidding to a stop across the concrete, Johnny regained his footing and immediately struck a pose while [Melancholy Hill] loomed over him and lashed it's tail out to try and grab ahold of the devious criminal. All while Johnny continued his 'act.' All while blood continued to run down his pantleg/stain his pants.

"My name is Johnny Higashikata and my power is [Melancholy Hill] and this fight is over!!!" Dramatically pointing a finger at the 'evildoer', that was [Melancholy Hill]'s cue. Opening it's mouth, alongside all the extremely unhealthy looking teeth, Janet would have seen a portal leading to who knows where inside the creature's mouth. "Inside [Melancholy Hill] is a void that takes and never returns! There's still a chance to give up and return the money you stole! So drop the gun and let's-"

"END THIS...."

[Melancholy Hill]'s eyes were usually looking all over the place but for Johnny's purposes, they centered themselves and looked down upon Janet, saliva drooling from it's ravenous maw. But while Johnny stood confident or tried to, his body language gave him away. His legs were trembling as even bluffing here made him feel ill. But he didn't have the speed to keep up with this chick if someone as adapt as Beckett couldn't. He'd also probably pass out before a brawl got him anywhere. All he could do was hope that this lady wasn't too bright and bought his bluff and surrendered. If everything worked out then nobody would have to get hurt!

 

[MyrtenRose]

She was closing in on the bank that had been robbed so fast that she could smell the sweet scent of the loot that would be all hers. A quick distracting blast, a swifter fly-by and she could bounce back to her district before anyone even knew what had--

"HEY! GET BACK HERE WITH MY BIKE, YOU ASSHOLE!!!"

"SORRY!! REALLY!!! I'LL GIVE IT BACK AFTERWARDS, OKAY???"

"THAT GUY'S BIKE/MY BIKE!!!"

"OK OK! [MELANCHOLY HILL], IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING I'M LIKE 99% SURE I'M GONNA EAT SHIT AND THAT MIGHT BE ENOUGH TO GIVE ME A CONCUSSION AND I REALLY DON'T WANT THAT!!"

"HALT ROBBER!"

"My name is Johnny Higashikata and my power is [Melancholy Hill] and this fight is over!!!"

"END THIS...."

The sound of a whole LOT of shouting in the distance drew her attention. A lot of it she couldn't make out clearly but unless she was imagining it, the word robber had been in that mess of yelling. "What LUCK!" She wouldn't have to attempt to track the criminal's path, surely this was a sign that success would be hers today. She adjusted her flight path, slowing down gradually until she came to a stop in the air, hovering just above...just above...

"Mother of goat what is that!?" Avery whisper-yelled, taken aback by the sight of it. But only temporarily. Whatever it was, she figured it would burn as naturally as anything else. In an instant the color of her body changed, the pure light blue replaced by burning red-orange as she thrust her hand out and a large stream of fire exploded out of her fist, blasting through the air on a direct path to that thing. "That's my money and I need it now!!!"

 

[Corvette]

The room had cleared before his anti-grav wore off, and Gunnar laid for the most part forgotten against the beams near the ceiling when the feeling of wrongness began to fade. His hunger was reaching a breaking point, and his atavism with it. He dropped to the floor soundlessly but for the buffet of his great wings guiding his glide to the door. He had an excellent memory for geography, as most animals did for their territory, and could envision mentally the layout of the compound despite having been unconscious for its traversing. His prowl was interrupted by a new facet to his mental map--a portion of wall, exploded out. It led directly to the street. Convenient.

Perhaps it was the earpiece in his ear or his more human thought processes exercising a small measure of control, but as he stalked the streets he was heading toward the ruckus of Calamity Janet and the team. His eyes reflected back an eerie yellow even against the LEDs that shone in Adehntu's streetlamps. He was not aiming for a rendezvous; he was not thinking at all. Instead, something in his brain was urging him toward Telegraph and Haas, and he was allowing it some sway. He was, uncharacteristically for a feral animal of his size and power, avoiding easier food outlets such as dumpsters, pets, and bystanders, instead being powered by a primal urge. Maybe it was Dr. Garrett himself pushing against the hippocampus to make the beast outside listen, but it was working. Gunnar pushed himself into the air on great bat wings, quickly achieving sufficient altitude to see plainly, with his hawklike vision, what was happening below.

[Melancholy Hill] was the most evident; it was taking up almost a whole lane of road. It was a display of power and aggression, but Gunnar could recognize it as just that: A display. He wasn't even certain he could eat whatever [Melancholy Hill] was, and he'd have to go through it to get to the man beside it. In a moment the thought of eating it left his mind. But closest to it, and in an optimal position to be divebombed, was a woman in a getup. Not a team-member, possibly sparked, apparently armed. The beast outside knew that it being armed meant little to its bulletproof skin. She was the perfect target.

Gunnar gained a bit of altitude with three flaps of his wings, then shot off downward like a falcon, leading with his head until the last second when he extended his arms to grab the woman and force her down beneath his immense weight, a piercing screech echoing in the night air. His claws dug into the asphalt beneath her, crumbling it like wet sand. He stayed in that position a moment, craning his head back to look at those on the other side of him, who could see him backlit by the portal in [Melancholy Hill]'s mouth. It would be immediately self-evident that this was not Dr. Gunnar in control--and Jacks, even as off her ass as she was, knew immediately what had to be happening.

So now Gunnar and the team were locked, with Gunnar's hands pinning Calamity Janet by the arms--the breadth of his palm nearly covered them from shoulder to elbow--with his head turned back to guard his quarry from those whom Dr. Gunnar could not make the beast differentiate from rival predators. A low growl trickled from his throat as he locked eyes with each of them in turn, as though telling them directly, This is my kill.

 

[Prospero]

A whole lot of shit going down....

Between everything going on, the mask visuals and more, Rochefort had seen enough. Someone was going to get a lot more seriously hurt as his fingers flew over the keyboard, his servitors in the background working at his design. He had thought he could stay out of this, away from all the violence. Well, just like the army some things you couldn't stay away from and he turned in his seat and spoke.

"WORK SWIFTLY! I WANT THAT READY IN FIFTEEN MINUTES!"

There wasn't much beyond a rough concept, but it would let him walk and more importantly, keep himself out of the way...Up to a point.

And hopefully ensure that the group would manage to get through this without killing anyone as he cried out.

"LULU! GET IN THERE!"

---

Above in the skies, a drone would come flying down-in the shape of a flying saucer and spinning rapidly. As it skimmed close to the ground, it'd roll as a wheel and split off into two things...Two very, very familiar looking things as they expanded and rolled into action.

Unit U7-U7. An attempt to determine the limits of his creative abilities, in the form of some oldies versions of robots from the past as they aligned their weapons and spoke.

"Step away from the Bank Robber Doctor. You have a degree in Zoology, you're better than this."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"NOW WHO THE HECK IS THIS?!" Bant yelled in confusion as Avery came flying in. "And what was that crash I heard from the lab- Oh. well." There was a few things going on here. Around 20% of them could be classified as good. Thankfully he was a man of science, and he was skilled at prioritization! He went down the list of problems at computational speeds;

1- The avatar was attacking, apparently. Danger rating: 8, new sparked with unknown abilities
2- C.D. was currently lost in an alleyway. Danger rating: 2, he trusted them not to hurt anyone as long as they didn't get frustrated.

....

Danger rating revised revised to 5. Still not quite a priority though.

3- There was a bank robber still running about. Danger rating: 5, Obviously a criminal but seemed averse to causing lasting damage. Also he liked her style.

4- Gunnar was out of the lab and hungry and Bant couldn't be sure where he was goin-

5- Gunnar had been located and was hungry and had dropped the danger rating for point 3 to a solid 2. Danger rating: 7. Spark with known abilities putting another sparked in danger.

"SOMEONE HELP CRIMINAL ONE DEAL WITH THE HUNGRY ONE!" He yelled before he turned the corner and all but tackled a civilian. She yelped in surprise and closed her eyes as she shielded herself, but nothing collided with her. When she opened her eyes, Bant was gone.

---------------------------------

"ROCHIE!"

Bant was behind his compatriot in science seemingly seconds later, adjusting the glasses that had been nearly knocked off in his rush to find the device in his hands as he pointed to the screens. "That one, the flying, one who's got a hadouken, can you put your lass over her? Close as you can get!

----------------------------

Beckett stumbled out of the alley way, their clothes a mess after a close encounter with a concrete wall following her missed tackle of Janet. They glared across the street, trying to catch sight of Janet or any chaos in her wake, deathly intent on...

...Saving her ass apparently. "Seriously?" They asked no one in particular, before they charged across the street in a bee line for the beast pinning down the robber. "OI, DROP IT! Sorry, HER!"

 

[Prospero]

"ROCHIE!"

Bant was behind his compatriot in science seemingly seconds later, adjusting the glasses that had been nearly knocked off in his rush to find the device in his hands as he pointed to the screens. "That one, the flying, one who's got a hadouken, can you put your lass over her? Close as you can get!

"I CAN'T, LULU IS ON THE GROUND!"

Rochefort panicked and cried out behind him.

"SEQUENCE TELETRON-1! LAUNCH LASERBEAK!"

And the second drone, still hot launched itself through the other window, ignoring the crude launching hatch entirely as Rochefort watched haplessly and sighed.

"....I'll clean that up later."

---

He turned to the computer, tapping the keys to bring up a view from his field drones. One of them began to roll around Gunner, keeping eight to ten feet away as it used it's mobility to advantage in a game of chicken.

The other one would be turning it's optics on the person in question, Rochefort explaining swiftly as he tried to zoom in.

"So what I was considering whilst you were gone are the Banticles. Does quantity mean more diverse power, or is just a touch enough to infect? As a result, I'm doing my best to scan the quality of each Sparked in an effort to know for sure. It should gel with your research well enough-if I ever get access to it too."

 

[MidwayLives]

"Mother of goat what is that!?" Avery whisper-yelled, taken aback by the sight of it. But only temporarily. Whatever it was, she figured it would burn as naturally as anything else. In an instant the color of her body changed, the pure light blue replaced by burning red-orange as she thrust her hand out and a large stream of fire exploded out of her fist, blasting through the air on a direct path to that thing. "That's my money and I need it now!!!"

"Just stop all of this and you won't be hurt, okay?" Johnny asked, hoping that Janet would have been frightened into submission by [Melancholy Hill] but as he noticed a new arrival, his head quirked to the side. Was this their accomplice? Or just another Sparked who'd decided to arrive on the scene? Johnny was sure he'd seen a girl around their age hanging around with angel wings but maybe she'd vanished in the midst of what was about to unravel into chaos. "Hey, [Melancholy Hill] you smell something..burning?" The creature's right eye twisted in it's socket and Johnny followed it's gaze. 'Perhaps that'd be the stream of fire heading right towards us."

"Oh."

...

"AAAAAH!!!! [MELANCHOLY HILL] DO SOMETHING!!!!" Stomping it's feet down infront of Johnny, it's eyes rolled up into the back of it's head and opened it's mouth as inhumanely wide as possible. The stream hit the portal and seemed to vanish without a trace into the portal. "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! KILL ME!?" Johnny shrieked up at Avery, before losing his footing as he fell down to a knee. [Melancholy Hill] wasn't suited for long range and going off the look of this new Sparked, it'd only wind up hurting Johnny if the two of them tried to get in close. He also didn't have the energy for a long drawn out brawl either. "Damn it..." It was taking all of his concentration/energy right now to keep [Melancholy Hill] active and a fresh and upcoming Sparked had shown up with every element except heart it seemed. It'd crossed Johnny's mind that [Melancholy Hill] could attempt to disperse this new opponent with a powerful enough clap but if she figured out the connection between the two of them, Johnny himself would have been left vulnerable.

"Quite annoying....Isn't she?"

*Meanwhile, inside the realm that [Melancholy Hill] acts as a gateway to*

A realm almost entirely shrouded in darkness with creatures masked by shadows. The only beacon of light being that of a twisted figure resembling a lightpost shining down upon a small patch of ground. But then a crackling of fire grew louder and louder and louder before

*VWOOOOSH*

Gunnar gained a bit of altitude with three flaps of his wings, then shot off downward like a falcon, leading with his head until the last second when he extended his arms to grab the woman and force her down beneath his immense weight, a piercing screech echoing in the night air. His claws dug into the asphalt beneath her, crumbling it like wet sand. He stayed in that position a moment, craning his head back to look at those on the other side of him, who could see him backlit by the portal in [Melancholy Hill]'s mouth. It would be immediately self-evident that this was not Dr. Gunnar in control--and Jacks, even as off her ass as she was, knew immediately what had to be happening.

So now Gunnar and the team were locked, with Gunnar's hands pinning Calamity Janet by the arms--the breadth of his palm nearly covered them from shoulder to elbow--with his head turned back to guard his quarry from those whom Dr. Gunnar could not make the beast differentiate from rival predators. A low growl trickled from his throat as he locked eyes with each of them in turn, as though telling them directly, This is my kill.

As Johnny struggled to come up with any kind of plan on how to deal with Avery, the doctor had lost his marbles and looked 'hungry' after pinning down the robber. Even in that bestial state, Johnny figured that the good doctor was bright enough to put two and two together when it came to him and [Melancholy Hill] and act upon it if he was attacked by either of them. But even so, Johnny couldn't sit idly by even if he was in a world of pain. If he couldn't eat the robber, then Gunnar sure as hell wasn't going to either! Lurching forward, [Melancholy Hill] balled one of it's claws up into a fist to try and slug the doctor and knock him off and away from Janet.

"DAAAAAARE!"

"Sorry Doc, but I don't think the group will ever forgive you if you eat a person right here and now..."

"I would...."

"Shut. Up!"

 

[MyrtenRose]

So now Gunnar and the team were locked, with Gunnar's hands pinning Calamity Janet by the arms--the breadth of his palm nearly covered them from shoulder to elbow--with his head turned back to guard his quarry from those whom Dr. Gunnar could not make the beast differentiate from rival predators. A low growl trickled from his throat as he locked eyes with each of them in turn, as though telling them directly, This is my kill.

Above in the skies, a drone would come flying down-in the shape of a flying saucer and spinning rapidly. As it skimmed close to the ground, it'd roll as a wheel and split off into two things...Two very, very familiar looking things as they expanded and rolled into action.

"What are...hey, I'm not with them, for the record, I work alone!!!" Avery yelled, making that unnecessary tidbit known to everyone gathered around here. A number that seemed to be growing by the second. First the bank robber and the crew chasing and that monstrous thing and then her and then some kind of other monstrous thing, then these robots. She could only wonder, what or who would be next.

Probably the cops, if she had to put that soon to be hers money on it.

"NOW WHO THE HECK IS THIS?!"

"My name is Avery and I'm about to rock you like a hurricane--"

"AAAAAH!!!! [MELANCHOLY HILL] DO SOMETHING!!!!" Stomping it's feet down infront of Johnny, it's eyes rolled up into the back of it's head and opened it's mouth as inhumanely wide as possible. The stream hit the portal and seemed to vanish without a trace into the portal.

O.o "Alright that is both freaky and annoying..."

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! KILL ME!?" Johnny shrieked up at Avery, before losing his footing as he fell down to a knee.

"I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT PRETTY OBVIOUS, I WAS NOT TRYING TO GIVE YOU A SUN TAN!!!"

Even in that bestial state, Johnny figured that the good doctor was bright enough to put two and two together when it came to him and [Melancholy Hill] and act upon it if he was attacked by either of them. But even so, Johnny couldn't sit idly by even if he was in a world of pain. If he couldn't eat the robber, then Gunnar sure as hell wasn't going to either! Lurching forward, [Melancholy Hill] balled one of it's claws up into a fist to try and slug the doctor and knock him off and away from Janet.

With that thing distracted going after the other thing, she seized upon her chance. "MY FIRST ATTACK MAY HAVE FAILED BUT I HAVE A THOUGHT! WITNESS THE POWER OF TWO HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!" This time she thrust forward with both arms, twin streams of fire emerging forth and coalescing together into a MUCH larger blast intent to consume Johnny whole. One less obstacle to her goal. That was the plan anyway, her attention so hyper-focused she was oblivious to any drone. "Try and eat this now!"

 

[MidwayLives]

"I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT PRETTY OBVIOUS, I WAS NOT TRYING TO GIVE YOU A SUN TAN!!!"

As both [Melancholy Hill] and Johnny caught Avery out of the corner of their eye, Johnny grimaced. "Why???" He'd stolen a bike sure but he didn't think that was deserving of being burned alive! "Perhaps this is the exception to the 'do not eat' rule?" [Melancholy Hill] chimed in, quietly at Johnny's side. With it being stated outright that this person's goal was to kill him, Johnny was admittedly tempted to let his power eat another living being. The only issue was getting close to her in the first place!

With that thing distracted going after the other thing, she seized upon her chance. "MY FIRST ATTACK MAY HAVE FAILED BUT I HAVE A THOUGHT! WITNESS THE POWER OF TWO HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!" This time she thrust forward with both arms, twin streams of fire emerging forth and coalescing together into a MUCH larger blast intent to consume Johnny whole. One less obstacle to her goal. That was the plan anyway, her attention so hyper-focused she was oblivious to any drone. "Try and eat this now!"

The punch against Gunnar whiffed as [Melancholy Hill] and Johnny both attempted to focus on the massive sphere of fire coming their way. "Okay, this is going to really hurt but..." [Melancholy Hill] held it's massive arms out at the side and as the sphere came in close enough, it close both claws around either side of the sphere. Johnny let out a scream as the palms of his hands started to burn! Opening up it's maw, [Melancholy Hill] sought to try and pick up the sphere and keep it from continuing forward and blasting Johnny. "AAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!" The pain was intense! No doubt he'd have blisters aplenty and perhaps even some burn scars if he held onto it for too much longer!

"Just...a little...longer."

While Johnny kept [Melancholy Hill] focused on trying to stop the incoming sphere, even as the ground beneath it's feet began to crack and splinter, Johnny really hoped someone else out there could find a way to stop this person.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Calamity Janet was feeling pretty good. Some crazy fire lady had jumped in and distracted the do gooders. Potentially a future problem since she was yelling about the money being hers, but she'd burn that bridge when she crossed it-

Everything was upside down for a split second, and then everything hurt. Her eyes shot wide past the brim of her miraculously still on hat, and she flailed her legs to try to kick at Gunnar's undercarriage to the very zen mantra of "ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohsh-"

 

[MyrtenRose]

Opening up it's maw, [Melancholy Hill] sought to try and pick up the sphere and keep it from continuing forward and blasting Johnny. "AAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!" The pain was intense! No doubt he'd have blisters aplenty and perhaps even some burn scars if he held onto it for too much longer!

"Just...a little...longer."

While Johnny kept [Melancholy Hill] focused on trying to stop the incoming sphere, even as the ground beneath it's feet began to crack and splinter, Johnny really hoped someone else out there could find a way to stop this person.

"I AM NOT YOUR BUFFET, YOU BULBOUS BALLOON BASTARD! BURN, BEAST!!!"

 

[Indolent]

Her eyes bleared, prompting Jacks to remedy with the cuff of her jacket as she squinted out one eye ahead. "... What's goin' on???" She muttered, catching the telltale sound of roaring flame as she reached Telegraph and Haas. The unconscious body of MJ's contacted her back as she gazed all around with frantic urgency before noting the alley everyone (mostly) had gone inside. It was bizarre as fuck, honestly, as she could hear the comical hollering of Avery echoing from there, intermixed in with the others' vocal contributions. It was pretty damn obvious too when she saw drones fly right in.

"Yello, what's happening?" She tried the headset again, gave it a second, found herself too impatient, and floated right into the mess. With MJ still close by behind strictly by some bizarre force of attraction Jacks elicited from the poke in the bank. Whatever works.

Which was definitely a tactical error to be expected of the veteran drunk, Miss Jacks.

"The fuck."

No words could be more succinct than those as described the situation that unfolded before her, with the gargoyle of before posturing over the janky ass bank robber from before like it was a snack needed defending, with a raucous woman wreathed in flames trying to flame-roast Johnny and his malevolent poltergeist. The drones she noted definitely had to be Rochefort's doing. And she apparently overlooked Beckett across the way.

"SOMEONE HELP CRIMINAL ONE DEAL WITH THE HUNGRY ONE!"

She did catch that. And groaned a mighty groan, her reluctance wafting forth from her body in palpable waves that clung. Straight talk? She went on a bender for several reasons (okay, the whole ordeal but specifically the following), a major one being the near death experience in Bant's hideout. With the hangry one. Maybe, just maybe, it'd be a cathartic resolution for the both of them. Okay, selfishly just for her.

"Fuckin' whatever, better get me drinks after this." Her words came pointedly as she set down, awkwardly stumbling as she did though her eyes never left Gunnar. "... Jesus, you scary as hell out in the open. Er, not the time fer dat." She blinked, blinked once more, nodded, and sauntered forward with a cocksure attitude, the stuff of liquid courage.

"Hey... hey big guy, the sun. Sun's getting real low." Both hands were open to the side to adopt an unassuming demeanor, facing out towards Gunnar as she neared-- "YER GOIN' DOWN BITCH." A slap would strike diagonally for the face, as she aimed for an encore of her stunt at the Bank coupled with Mayfield's own experience.

 

[Corvette]

Gunnar was hungry. He was bestial. He was out of control.

But he was not stupid. Gunnar's atavistic side had briefly dealt with Jacks's gravity powers earlier and been stuck to the ceiling, playing backseat cave bat to Gunnar's upside-down escapade.

Gunnar reared quickly--more quickly than it appeared he'd have been able to, given his bulky frame--and caught Jacks by the arm, the impact transferring some of the intended gravitational increase regardless of his interruption to her attack. His feet, planted firmly to either side of Calamity Janet, cracked their way through more of the asphalt that had already been displaced in his landing (as he'd transferred most of the force there using only Gunnar's subconscious control of minor aspects of the Watcher's movements to avoid breaking Calamity Janet entirely upon landing). The waves continued, and Gunnar snarled as he crouched, then shot into the air, gravity be damned, to escape those drones and those heroes below who would've interrupted his meal.

Each beat of his wings brought the two higher, the gravity increasing gradually until Gunnar was not so much gaining altitude as maintaining it, his grip on Jacks tightening as he drew her to eye level, face to face with those ravenous yellow eyes.

"Grau-ity girl. Can it shurrr-wie de heightsh? Doesh it tire? Shall I eat? De Watcher doesh hungarrrr."

 

[MidwayLives]

"I AM NOT YOUR BUFFET, YOU BULBOUS BALLOON BASTARD! BURN, BEAST!!!"

If he could just focus, maybe [Melancholy Hill] could devour this fire! But the pain was too great and too much for Johnny to bare! [Melancholy Hill]'s boots dug into the ground as it wrapped it's tail around Johnny's waist and leaped away, fire still coating it's arms and thus by proxy burning johnny's. "AAAAAGHHHHHH!!" He screamed, his entire body wracked with pain. From head to toe, there wasn't a part of him that wasn't maimed or scuffed up in some capacity. The proximity to that fire had made him dizzy, nauseous. Throwing up and just laying down and closing his eyes sounded so good right about now. But he knew that if he just laid down, this crazy chick would just make sure he was dead. For what reason, he couldn't quite fathom. Had he perhaps wronged this lady in some manner? Maybe she was related to the guy who's bike he'd stolen? Seemed like a bit of a overreaction to kill him if that was the case. Or maybe it was his mind just messing up on him.

"We can't...Give up...[Melancholy Hill]..." Johnny murmured, his entire body trembling as he pressed his palms against the ground and pushed himself up to his feet. Anybody with eyes could have seen his legs wobble. A light push is all it would have taken to knock Johnny back down. But he couldn't rest until he'd done everything he possibly could against this villain. Johnny didn't fully know the ins and outs of [Melancholy Hill] and he knew for sure that she was well outside of punching distance. Which left only one other option for him. He disliked it-no he hated it. If things didn't work out, how would it have made him any better from Avery trying to incinerate him? Still, it was either try it or just keel over and accept being murdered. Johnny had been through a lot in the past few hours and in that time he learned one thing.

It wasn't his time.

"We're probably going to only get one shot at this, [Melancholy Hill]. You know what happens if we fuck up right...?" The behemoth of a spectre nodded. "It's more than likely I'll be engulfed in flames, horribly maiming if not killing you in the process."

"...Yeah." He couldn't blame [Melancholy Hill] for simply saying what he'd been thinking, but Johnny wished he could have been a touch more optimistic than 'you'll probably die. Horribly. Painfully.' "Well, she's probably not expecting this so we got that on our side....Here, we GO!" [Melancholy Hill] wrapped it's tail around Johnny's waist once more and yanked him in close as it jumped off the ground and straight towards Avery with it's eyes rolled back and it's maw wide open. It was due or die time. If this failed....

*BWOOOM*

Avery's rather loud boisterous voice vanished. All of her did as a matter of fact. Straight down [Melancholy Hill]'s gullet and into the portal residing within it's maw. It's mouth slowly closed and Johnny's eyes were closed and blood fell from his bottom lip. Things had been successful and yet he couldn't shake that he shouldn't have done that. Crashing to the ground, [Melancholy Hill] set Johnny down as he looked up at Gunnar and Jacks. He'd have bet the farm on [Melancholy Hill] being able to go toe to toe with the good Doctor. But with Johnny as injured and now as guilt-ridden as he was? He'd only end up getting in the way. Besides, once the adrenaline wore off? Well...

~~~

For Avery, everything would have gone black. If anything, she should have been grateful she could shift to being an incorporeal being if it so suited her. Other folks might not have been swallowed so effortlessly. Some might have lost some extremities on the way down. She'd find herself on solid footing at least but the darkness wouldn't fade. If she attempted to use her flame to light up the area around her, she'd see darkness stretching as far as the eye could see. With the exception of one small patch of ground with a crooked street light looming overhead as a weak light shined down from above. Whatever this place was, it certainly wasn't Telegraph and Haas. It was then that Avery might have spotted eyes staring back at her from within the darkness. Humanoid-ish figures if nothing else but anything else discernible was impossible to tell due to the massive shrouding of darkness in...Whatever this place was.

She would smell burnt flesh however. A sign that the flame that she'd seen [Melancholy Hill] swallow had ended up in this strange place.

*shuffle shuffle*

The creatures staring at her from within the shadows made no attempt to move. Instead, they stayed still and watched as a shuffling noise seemed to come from every direction.

*shuffle shuffle*

Just then, a voice. Ragged and worn-down as if the vocal chords were rotting away. The shuffling grew closer and Avery would feel a hand upon her shoulder. The grip was tight and unlike the other denizens of this nightmarish place, the flames that currently made up Avery's body illuminated this new guest very well. It seemed like a cobbled together mess of a corpse and wood. It's eyesockets empty and branches growing from various parts of it's body. It's hands misshapen and some of the fingers twisted and gnarled. It's lower jaw seemed to have either rotted off completely or been overtaken by the foilage growing throughout it's body, leaving only the upper portion exposed. Yet it continued to try and speak. All without relaxing it's grip on Avery as if the flames weren't even there.

'Carry....Carry me.....Okay?"

Cracks and pops of joints rang out as this horrible abomination of nature and man raised it's other hand. Pointing a finger which resembled a root more than anything else towards the creatures, both it and Avery would have seen that they had stepped out from the shadows and had twisted and contorted themselves. Into Avery's nightmares/worst fear. As had been the case when [Melancholy Hill] explained to Johnny back in the cell, those who were devoured carrying 'weight'(fears) would have to either overcome and 'let it go' or face the consequences.

 

[MyrtenRose]

For Avery, everything would have gone black.

"...……………………………………………………...Excuse me?" The sound of her voice was the only thing that pierced the all encompassing darkness. That...that had been madness. That thing, whatever it was, and the kid...they launched themselves at her! She was so taken aback by that tactic she didn't do a thing in counter response and then, well...it was like the world went dark. Like the whole world had been tied to a light switch and somebody just flicked it to off.

She looked to the left, to the right, even doing a full 360 spin. This whole place was dark. "Doesn't seem like a stomach, so I guess there's that."

"HELLO?" She shouted into the void. The only response was "HELLO...HELLo...HELlo...HEllo...Hello...hello...hello...", her yell vanishing into the ether. The heat of her flames didn't do a thing to diminish the chill that ran through her. "Oh fuck this in particular."

Her flames flared out immensely and in that one singular moment it lit up enough for-

It was then that Avery might have spotted eyes staring back at her from within the darkness. Humanoid-ish figures if nothing else but anything else discernible was impossible to tell due to the massive shrouding of darkness in...Whatever this place was.

-that. "HEY! You! AM I IN ONE OF THOSE...WHAT DID THEY CALL THEM...CREEPYPASTAS?!"

She would smell burnt flesh however. A sign that the flame that she'd seen [Melancholy Hill] swallow had ended up in this strange place.

*shuffle shuffle*

The creatures staring at her from within the shadows made no attempt to move. Instead, they stayed still and watched as a shuffling noise seemed to come from every direction.

*shuffle shuffle*

"YOU COULD SAY YES OR NO ANYTIME NOW!" She couldn't even remotely pinpoint where that other sound was coming from--

Just then, a voice. Ragged and worn-down as if the vocal chords were rotting away. The shuffling grew closer and Avery would feel a hand upon her shoulder. The grip was tight and unlike the other denizens of this nightmarish place, the flames that currently made up Avery's body illuminated this new guest very well.

"AHH!" She admittedly flinched, jumping away at the sudden touch. It wasn't just the touch either, but that the thing didn't mind the sheer burning heat. The looks didn't hurt either. The sort of thing that looked like it'd give Del Toro's monsters nightmares. "MOTHER OF GOAT, I AM IN ONE OF THEM DANGNABBIT THINGS! WHY THE ACTUAL F--, NO HOW THE ACTUAL F--"

'Carry....Carry me.....Okay?"

"...Excuse me? I will do no such thing--"

Cracks and pops of joints rang out as this horrible abomination of nature and man raised it's other hand. Pointing a finger which resembled a root more than anything else towards the creatures, both it and Avery would have seen that they had stepped out from the shadows and had twisted and contorted themselves. Into Avery's nightmares/worst fear. As had been the case when [Melancholy Hill] explained to Johnny back in the cell, those who were devoured carrying 'weight'(fears) would have to either overcome and 'let it go' or face the consequences.

The sounds alone disgusted her, and she turned away in plain refusal of even watching whatever THE HECK was going on. Only when the sounds ceased did she hazard a quick little peek.

"..."

Where that thing had been, a new monstrosity stood. THE BANES OF HER EXISTENCE!

A giant cockroach, utterly dwarfing her in size. Even just one of its' six legs towered over her by far. Those antennae reached out, almost touching her. That utterly inhuman face...staring at her. The TRUE ENEMY to all JANITORS EVERYWHERE. THE BLASTED VERMIN, ATTRACTED TO THE WORST MESSES. But that...it wasn't even the most terrifying part. No, what the DAMNABLE pest was wearing...that jacket...

The mark of the dreaded itself, not just to janitors, but to people everywhere...



"NO, GOD, PLEASE NO, GO AWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!" She reared her arm back as if to throw a blast of fire but none came. There was no fire left. Her focus wavered, and in her fear and uncertainty all that flame had been snuffed out. Almost immediately after, her body outwardly reflected how she felt inside. The flames of her elemental body had shifted into water, a form she knew not how to control. Without the concentration, the sheer will holding herself together...

She literally collapsed into a puddle. A puddle that did her best to edge away from that MONSTROSITY. At the speed of about six centimeters a second. Still somehow screaming bloody murder the whole time.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Gunnar reared quickly--more quickly than it appeared he'd have been able to, given his bulky frame--and caught Jacks by the arm, the impact transferring some of the intended gravitational increase regardless of his interruption to her attack. His feet, planted firmly to either side of Calamity Janet, cracked their way through more of the asphalt that had already been displaced in his landing (as he'd transferred most of the force there using only Gunnar's subconscious control of minor aspects of the Watcher's movements to avoid breaking Calamity Janet entirely upon landing). The waves continued, and Gunnar snarled as he crouched, then shot into the air, gravity be damned, to escape those drones and those heroes below who would've interrupted his meal.

Each beat of his wings brought the two higher, the gravity increasing gradually until Gunnar was not so much gaining altitude as maintaining it, his grip on Jacks tightening as he drew her to eye level, face to face with those ravenous yellow eyes.

"Grau-ity girl. Can it shurrr-wie de heightsh? Doesh it tire? Shall I eat? De Watcher doesh hungarrrr."

Unfortunately for herself, the nature of her tether with dragged her right along with Jacks as Gunnar took the gravity powered girl up and up and up. Whether it was MJ naturally regaining consciousness or helped along by the sudden gusts of wind sweeping across her face, that wasn't clear. What was clear though was that she began to stir, eyes beginning to open. Her eyelids lifted up a crack, letting her get a groggy glimpse of--

In an instant, her eyes shot fully open, taking in the ground way way below her. She rubbed at her eyes to make sure she was seeing things correctly...and she was, confirmed with another look. It was then that she ceased looking straight down, lifting her head to look around in a panicked rush. The familiar sights of Jack's back and Gunnar just beyond greeted her. And as if the fact that she was god knows how high up wasn't enough, that look in the dude's golden eyes wasn't exactly comforting.

"GUYS WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW??!"

The tone of her shouted question was roughly equal parts fear and confusion, though the look on her face leaned heavily towards fear. So terrified in fact that the thought of even attempting to read either of their short term memories didn't occur to her.